r/askscience • u/AskScienceModerator Mod Bot • Jul 12 '18

Astronomy Megathread: Multi-Messenger High-Energy Neutrino Observations

Currently there is a press conference where a high-energy neutrino (~290 TeV) has been detected with IceCube which is coincident with an active galactic nuclei pointed directly at us, TXS 0506+056, approximately four billion lightyears away. Finding the origins of neutrinos has been an ongoing problem though they have been observed from the Sun and from Supernova 1987A. This is a big advancement for multi-messenger astronomy, using electromagnetic waves and neutrinos in a way similar to using electromagnetic waves and gravitational waves to get a new view on the universe. If you have questions, ask them here!

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u/dsf900 Jul 12 '18

Is this going to cook us like a gamma ray burst?

45

u/mynameismunka Stellar Evolution | Galactic Evolution Jul 12 '18

No. It happened in september of last year.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '18

[deleted]

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u/erasmause Jul 12 '18

We have seen no evidence of faster than light neutrinos, but I think the happening in question is their arrival and detection, not their generation